Carmelo Anthony — the fulcrum of the Knicks offense, not to mention the team’s leading scorer at 26.7 points per game as — had to leave Thursday night’s game after rolling his ankle in the third quarter. It happened during a scramble for the ball, which was at his feet (as you see above). He did not return after the injury.

X-Rays came back negative. Carmelo is listed as day-to-day. The Knicks next game is Saturday against the Thunder, then the Magic next Monday.

Without ‘Melo the Knicks offense will be interesting, he has carried a squad that at times has seemed lathargic. They still have Amare Stoudemire and others who can fill it up, but Carmelo has handled the ball a lot as well and organized the offense. How well Iman Shumpert and Toney Douglas handle the additional responsibility will determine how the Knicks offense goes.

Anthony also went to the bench in the first quarter with a wrist injury, but he had that taped up and returned to the game. He had 14 points when the ankle injury occurred.